Germs, Begone. Meet the Touchless Toilet

Technology is already making everyday tasks touchless. With Philips Hue lights, you never have to touch a light switch. With Google’s self-driving car you won’t have to touch a steering wheel, and now you won’t even have to touch your toilet — at least not to flush it. Kohler has created a more hygienic way to flush with their new touchless flush system, and boy is it nifty.

Touchless technology has already been introduced in public restrooms by way of toilets, sinks and towel dispensers, but we’re definitely excited that now we can bring this technology home. Unlike the sensors on some public toilets that flush when you stand up, the Kohler sensor is in the tank, so you hover your hand over it and voilà! Flusharoo! Germaphobes, you can now breathe a sigh of relief.

The touchless toilet is kind of ingenious and it deserves some serious attention. Here’s how it works: Using emerging sensing technology, when you hover your hand over the sensor, an electromagnetic field triggers the flush.

Kohler offers three options to go touchless (left to right):

1. Cimarron ($360-460): It’s your more classic, traditional design with the outline of a curving pipe at the base.

2. San Souci ($933) In the art of toilet design, this one is more contemporary. This stunner is all one piece, creating a silhouette of clean lines… you know, if you ever gaze at your toilet as a silhouette.

3. Toilet Flush Kit ($100): This is our favorite option. You can update your current toilet with the Touchless Kit. The kit fits most toilets and is easy to install.

Your average toilet flushes 3.5 gallons per water, but the Cimarron and San Souci are more efficient using only 1.28 gallons. Overachiever, much? All three options need 4 AA batteries which should last you 6-12 months.

Compared to self-changing lightbulbs and self-driving cars, this latrine update seems a little more lo-fi and way overdue. Now we just have to mass produce talking toilets… preferably with the voice of Jon Hamm.

Are you ready to bring some tech to your toilet? Let us know in the comments!